


Something Something In Your Arms

by Jebbler



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-03-19 17:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3618060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jebbler/pseuds/Jebbler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peridot was never one for a 'relationship', but after a fresh faced college student moved in with her, it was hard to maintain that image.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Peridot hefted the box into Jasper's truck, she had been helping her old roommate unpack for the better part of the day and only complained like eight times, "That's the last of it."

Jasper poked her head out of the door and sauntered over to Peridot, "Thanks ya nerd," She trailed off, running a hand through her (what Peridot thought to be dyed) hair, "Y'know, I still can't believe I'm really moving away," She chuckled, "Y'know, it almost feels like the first day I met-"

"Please stop." Peridot pulled a frown and began (trying) to look threatening. She knew this day was coming sooner or later, if only she could've foreseen the horrible emotional toll it would have on her.

Jasper patted Peridot's shoulder, much to her tiny friends disdain, "Alright peridork, I guess I should go then," again she hesitated, "I'll miss you."

What was this miserable woman trying to do? Make Peridot sad or something?

"That's why we have phones, meathead," Peridot tried to look at Jasper, "You still have your phone right?"

"Of course I do! I don't know how I'm gonna function without you around to fix it every other week though," Jasper climbed into her truck that was full of her minimal possessions, that's how she liked to travel, light; Peridot could respect that, "Bye P-dot."

"Yeah," The other girl grunted, almost violently shoving her hands into her pockets, "See you."

And of course she stood there and watched the truck until it was out of sight, and of course she didn't cry. No, Peridot didn't cry at all.

"...Good riddance."

-

"I'm Lapis Lazuli and...No that's not right," A girl with blue streaks in her hair stood outside of Peridot's apartment door debating with herself, "I'm Lapis Lazuli and I'm supposed to...Live here? Or something?" Lapis groaned, "No that's not right either!" How was she going to make a good first impression if she didn't even know what to say to the girl!?

Lapis was a year out of high school and still looked rather babyish on the outside, but she had graduated top of her class! If the girl that lived here didn't judge based on appearances then she could certainly try to impress her with the mundane facts she learned in school. Then again if they did judge based on appearances maybe she could earn some pity with her looks?

Taking a breath she tried again, "I'm Lapis Lazuli and-" The door opened mid-way through her practice introduction, "I'm going to live here!"

The person that stood on the other side of the door wasn't at all who she thought would live here. She looked tired and a little angry? She was also an inch or two shorter than Lapis which was pretty entertaining to her (not many people were smaller than her in the first place). The girl had an...Interesting hairdo. Almost triangular in style? It was a light brown and stuck out in random places as if she couldn't bother to brush it. Ever.

"Are you the person that's been mumbling outside of my door?" Her voice was lighter than Lapis had expected too.

"N-no! I mean yes but I really didn't mean to do that?" Lapis began to fiddle with her skirt. It was her best outfit and she had picked it out specifically for today, just so her new room mate didn't think she was a slob.

The other girl sighed, "Alright then. I'm Peridot, and you're...?" Peridot straightened the coffee stained hoodie she had been wearing and looked possibly even more impatient than she had when she opened the door.

"I'm Lapis Lazuli and-"

"You're going to live here?" Peridot finished for her, taking a low key amount of amusement in the situation. It had been a couple days since Peridot really joked about anything or even had actual human contact. It was always Jasper that was making sure she got outside or brushed her hair...

Lapis twiddled her thumbs, "Uh, so I mean...You did know that I was coming here right?" Lapis tried to remember if she had actually called the girl beforehand to confirm her move, she must've.

"Yeah."

"...So could I...Come in?"

"Oh yeah. I guess," Peridot stepped to the side and allowed the other girl to enter, closing the door after she was in. There was a perfectly good reason for why she was so out of it today but knew that Lapis wouldn't understand.

Peridot's apartment (Lapis guessed it was also hers now too?) was...cozy to say the least. It was also relatively clean (if she could ignore the bottles littering the floor) and Lapis could almost tell how much time Peridot spent in each room, the living room being the most clean. Over all it was pretty standard fair, the bedrooms towards the back and the kitchen was connected to the dinning room. Lapis could see herself living here! Provided she straightened up a bit first...

"Are you gonna be okay alone?" Peridot was still awkwardly standing by the door.

"Oh, are you going somewhere?" Lapis asked, watching as Peridot crossed the living room to get to one of the bedrooms.

"No, I'm going to bed."

"Why are you going to sleep, it's four in the afternoon!"

Peridot crossed her arms and groaned, "You ask more questions than Jasper even had the capacity to understand."

"Who's Jasper?"

Lapis never got her answer though because the other girl slammed the door to her bedroom, leaving her in complete silence.

"Well, fine then. I'll get through to you later. First I need to see about this mess."


	2. Chapter 2

Lapis put her hands on her hips, observing the work she had done. The bottles of random caffeinated drinks had been thrown in the trash and Lapis had even tried starting on the mess that was the kitchen. Well, starting being the key word, she hadn't gotten much farther than cleaning the counters and sweeping- but it was cleaner!

Glancing towards the timer on the stove, Lapis opened the refrigerator. It was 5:30, although she didn't have any classes today her part time job started in thirty minutes and she really didn't want to go to work hungry.

"Are you serious?" The nagging suspicion that Lapis had about Peridot was confirmed just by looking in her fridge. Sure, the slightly out of order house was one thing but there were a lot of people nowadays that didn't bother cleaning every other week. Now that she was staring the (nearly) empty refrigerator void in the face, it was so much clearer than before.

Peridot was the laziest person she had ever shared a house with. To lazy to even buy groceries or clean! That or she was poor, in which case Lapis felt kinda bad.

The door to Peridot's bedroom was closed and Lapis assumed she was still sleeping.

"It's better not to bother her, I can just pick up something on the way to work," But in the back of her mind, Lapis added 'buy food' to her new to do list.

-

"Fucking assholes," Peridot muttered into her headset. Her body was jerking to the same motions that the character on screen was, pulling the controller back whenever she had to avoid someone's knife or craning her neck at every jump.

She was supposed to be asleep hours ago, when that Lapis girl had arrived. Maybe she had slept for a couple of minutes but whatever ounce of energy she had gotten from that had been wasted on this damn game.

"Goddammit Ronaldo, I take back literally every good thing I've ever said about you," Ronaldo was one of Peridot's long time internet 'friends'. He was kind of a weird douchebag but wasn't too intolerable most days. Unless, of course, he decided to snipe her from miles away like the asshole he is.

Ronaldo's chuckling filled her headset as they were sent back to the lobby to start a new game, "Oh, Peridot, when have you ever said anything good about me?"

Peridot swiped aimlessly to the left of her, her hand connected with a tin can of some name-brand energy drink (she barely bothered to look at them when she went shopping, just shoved them in the cart) and she chugged the rest of it, only making a small mess, "Solid point."

"Hey where were you later? You said you'd play a tournament with me but then you didn't show," The dork sounded concerned, which would be touching to anyone else but Peridot.

"Some girl came over, then I took a nap," It was the truth, she hadn't seen a reason to lie to Ronaldo. At least not yet.

"Oooooh a girllllll? Spill the deets P-dot!" As the game started, they had spawned near each other and Peridot began trailing the oblivious boy with her knife at the ready.

"Ronaldo," Peridot killed him then immediately ran to cover, "If you ever address me like that, talk to me with that tone of voice, or say 'spill the deets' again, I will personally take it upon myself to spawn camp your every waking moment."

"Ugh fine, be that way," A few minutes passed as Peridot ran around the map, putting down some random players that were just atrocious at the game, "But where is she now?"

Peridot hadn't really cared about wherever Lapis went when she retreated to her room, at the time she had just assumed Lapis was unpacking her things, "She's probably somewhere around here."

"I can't believe you would talk so carelessly about a woman like that Peridot!" She could tell that Ronaldo was legitimately getting up in arms about this meaningless topic, "See, this is why you're single-"

Ronaldo was cut off by his own frustrated scream as Peridot shot him through the head. It was normal for him to just rant about useless things like this until he ran out of steam, but the topic of Peridot's love life had always been a touchy subject and even he knew that.

"Sorry, I just don't understand how you're so willing to live your life alone. I would kill to be you!"

"And I will kill to have you stop talking about this," And Peridot did, multiple times. In the game at least.

"Fine," He let it drop and Peridot finally thought she was able to rest in peace but then the pathetic Fryman's voice ripped through her headset again, "Was she hot?"

Peridot reached over to turn her Xbox off, and the room was bathed in darkness. She reclined back against her bed frame and sighed. Sometimes Ronaldo was just too much for her liking. He was always talking about his personal life or someone else's personal life, there was never any in between with him. And of course, his invasive questions didn't end at her life, they had to go into Lapis's too.

Not that Peridot cared of course.

Opening her door, she decided to find out where Lapis went to. It occurred to Peridot that she never actually told her which bedroom belonged to her. Of course, if the girl had any wits at all she would figure out it was the only other bedroom in the apartment.

What she didn't expect was a clean house with only her in it. Lapis was no where to be seen (Peridot even checked Jasper's old room but that too had been empty of any trace of the girl).

_Maybe I scared her off?_

As Peridot shuffled to the kitchen, she entertained the thought. Was she so off-putting that Lapis would just leave? Again, she didn't care. The only thing that Lapis represented in her life was extra help with the rent.

_You said that about Jasper too._

Peridot grumbled, she hadn't had enough sleep to the point where she was antagonizing even herself.

Reaching for the fridge handle, she noticed something new stuck to the door with...What seemed to be a crying waffle refrigerator magnet?

"Where did she even get this?" Peridot read the note anyways:

'Hey, so I cleaned up a bit for you (I hope you don't mind). I'm at work right now probably, I just wrote this in case you woke up before I got home! PS: You really need to go shopping.'

It was signed 'Lapis Lazuli' and the writing was rife with squiggles and drawings of tiny animals. She even dotted her i's with hearts.

"What kind of person did I agree to live with?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright Peridot, the next thing on our list is bread," Lapis poked her head around the corner to look down an aisle, "It should be over here somewhere..."

Peridot gently shoved Lapis away from the cart and took a hold of it, "Oh I don't know, it's probably on the aisle labeled 'wheat and wheat by-products'," She started pushing the cart, not really caring if Lapis followed or even if she heard her.

Why was she even here? She wasn't hungry. If she was hungry she'd go out and buy food herself. Maybe.

And she certainly wouldn't drag Lapis with her.

After that awkward confrontation with Lapis about her money situation (apparently the girl had thought she was poor?) she was stuck collaborating a grocery list with the other girl. Peridot hadn't cared about most of the things Lapis put on the list (except broccoli, fuck broccoli) but Lapis was quick to shoot down any and all the things that she had actually _wanted_ to get.

As they came to the 'wheat and wheat by-products' aisle, Lapis grabbed back onto the shopping cart; Pushing it into the lane, "You were right Peri!"

"Don't call me that," Peridot huffed, there was nothing particularly offensive about it, but any and all nicknames tended to rub her the wrong way, "And of course I was right."

Lapis shrugged it off and picked up two bags of bread, tossing them unceremoniously into the cart, "You're sure you have enough money to buy this right? Because I could help-"

"I don't know where you got the idea that I was struggling with my banking situation, but I assure you I'm fine. I literally do not have to worry about money," Lapis was about to open her mouth to cut her off, "Ever."

They walked through the store in silence for a few minutes. It was sort of nice to Peridot. If Lapis kept to herself she found that she really didn't have a problem with her.

"Okay but why?"

_Ugh._

"Because my parents own the college you're going to, they're loaded and I do not have to do anything other than _exist_   to get cash from them. Can we not talk about this anymore?" It was something that Peridot didn't like to brag about. Sure, her parents were rich. They were also never around when she wanted them to be (except to nag her into doing something productive with herself). Whoop dee fucking doo.

"...Oh. Okay," Lapis grew quiet again and Peridot almost felt bad for talking to her that way.

Except she didn't.

-

 Peridot set the bags of groceries on the counter and made a bee line for her room.

"Excuse you?" Lapis, who had been carrying the far heavier bags, called to her, "These still need to be put up."

The sloppier of the two shrugged, her back still turned to Lapis, "Yeah, have fun with that."

When the other girl said nothing back, Peridot started towards her room again, "Fine, be that way."

That comment was obviously not meant to be heard by anyone other than Lapis, but that didn't stop Peridot from turning around to look at her. She just sounded so _defeated_.

_It's better if she learns that you're a deadbeat now than later._

Peridot tried reasoning with herself, but Lapis was pathetic...Annoyingly pathetic. This was only her first day here and she'd already been able to drag Peridot out of the house. Couldn't she see that Peridot wasn't worth this type of attention?

_Ugh, fuck._

Lapis heard plastic bags from behind her being rooted through and she turned around from the fridge, "Peridot?"

She grunted, picking up an assortment of 'healthy' food (something Lapis had insisted on getting) and shoving it haphazardly into a cabinet.

They worked in silence but it was really hard for Peridot to ignore Lapis's presence. It was as if she was begging for Peridot's attention by just existing around her.

_What a pain._

After the job was done, Peridot immediately tried escaping again, only to be called back by Lapis.

"What?"

Lapis was smirking, her hands hidden behind her back, "Well, since you were nice enough to come to the store with me..."

"Yeah, after you asked a hundred and two times," That wasn't really an accurate estimation of how many times she asked but whatever, "Get to the point," Peridot was exhausted; Psychically and mentally, the sooner she got this day over the better.

"I bought you these," Lapis shoved a pack of energy drinks into Peridot's arms, "I didn't know which ones you liked so I just...Guessed?"

Peridot stared at the pack, it definitely wasn't the cheap kind (even though she never cared about the price before). Redbull huh? Even if she still had some in the cooler under her bed, Peridot didn't let the kind gesture fall flat.

"Are they okay?"

"...They're fine," Peridot turned around and finally went to her room, drinks in hand, escaping the situation once and for all.

Soon as she was gone, Lapis sighed, "What a weirdo."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright wow, so this story exists sorry for ignoring it

Peridot shoveled another handful of trail mix into her mouth, shouting into her headset through the healthy assortment of nuts and berries. It was week three of having Lapis live with her. Three weeks without Jasper, without the regular amount of garbage she usually had to surround her, and without the steady stream of junk food that used to be put into her body on an hourly basis.

Lapis had even changed the amount of energy drinks she was allowed daily! The first week was the average three cans, the second week then turned to two, and now Peridot wasn't even missing her caffeine induced panic attacks.

Whenever Peridot had put out the ad for a new roommate, she hadn't assumed she would be getting a health nut as well.

It's not like Jasper didn't ever try to get her to change either though.

Peridot's match had ended but she didn't really notice. A full three weeks had weakened the (if Peridot allowed herself to dwell) awfully large hole Jasper had left in her life; But it didn't at all get rid of it. Even now Peridot would be lying if she said she didn't miss the constant poking and prodding to go jogging or to get a gym membership.

Jasper's presence wasn't just that either, Peridot had only realized this after the girl was long gone. It was the way they had both woken up, neither of them being morning people, silently pouring themselves coffee (it was some unspoken rule that whoever got up first was destined to make breakfast as well). It was also how Jasper had consistently been able to get Peridot to leave the house.

Lapis was taking care of her, even if she didn't ask for it. But it was more mom like than what Jasper did. Jasper had opted to just throwing an outfit at her with a line similar to 'get in loser we're going shopping'. While with Lapis it was subtle.

Also Peridot can't remember going out with Lapis at all other than the few times she was forced along on shopping trips.

"Peridot? Peridot accept my match you fuck," Lars shouted, practically, into her ears.

"God can't I get like five seconds to myself!?"

"Obviously not. What part of 'I'm the center of the universe' do you not understand?"

Peridot held back a chuckle. Lars is a very recently acquired friend, one she got after being forced to change her sleeping schedule to that of a regular person. She was grateful to some extent. In a way she had lost Ronaldo, a loser without any tact, and gained Lars, a loser with a fair amount of tact. A nice trade.

"Whatever man, there, you happy?"

"Very."

-

"Uagh," Lapis threw her keys down on the sofa, and then her entire being fell after them. She really needed a break from her job. It was only her third week of being apart of 'Rose's Crystal Clean Maid Service' and she was already dead inside; Just saying the name alone made her want to gag.

Her co workers weren't all that bad though. They were obviously into their job which is something Lapis hadn't seen too much from...Any cleaning service really. But it was apparent that Lapis didn't belong there. Amethyst was the easiest to get along with and they always bullshited about random things on their longer than normal lunch breaks. Garnet was scary and that was a bit of an understatement. Not loud or obnoxious just always there and Lapis could feel the girl's eyes on her no matter where she went, even when Garnet was off that day.

And Pearl. Lapis groaned into the pillow that had fallen from the top of the sofa at some point and onto her face. She didn't want to think about Pearl. Unlike Garnet, Pearl was actually always psychically behind her or at least in the same room. It felt as if Lapis was always being scrutinized for every little detail as she was cleaning. It's to the point where Lapis' favorite activity is to purposefully aggravate Pearl, a hobby that Amethyst seems to have perfected.

Slipping off the beaten up couch, Lapis decided that there was no way in heaven or hell that she was cooking tonight. Just looking at the stove made her shudder. She'd go out for some sort of food, it didn't matter what kind. Lapis thought about inviting Peridot but was afraid of...What? What was she afraid of exactly? Rejection is the most likely answer, but if that's the case then she'd get over it. It's not like it'd be a date.

Lapis knocked on Peridot's door, not giving herself a chance to regret her decision.

"What?" Peridot answered with a hint of underlying rudeness, a rudeness that left her face when she glanced over Lapis, "Are you okay?"

Lapis paused, she didn't look that bad did she?

"Yes but you aren't, put on some actual clothes and think up a place to eat."

"These are actual clothes."

Lapis rolled her eyes. The shorter girl had answered her door wearing a worn out tank top that said 'Sun's Out Gun's Out' in garish orange lettering. Peridot was also only wearing boyshorts with what Lapis assumed were mustard stains lining the side.

Truly a sight to behold.

"You have ten minutes," Then Lapis closed the door for the baffled girl, walking down to her own room to get ready.


End file.
